NMB Bank and Mastercard Partner to Enable Greater Financial Inclusion; Aim to Bring Credit, Prepaid Cards to 1.5 Million in Tanzania
September 9, 2020- Initiative aims to increase financial inclusion, build the domestic payment ecosystem, and further increase the adoption of contactless payment solutions in Tanzania.
Dar es Salaam, Sept 09, 2020: NMB Bank PLC and Mastercard today announced a partnership to roll out 1.5 million Mastercard branded prepaid and credit cards in Tanzania over the next five years. The collaboration aims to further build the domestic payment ecosystem and empower Tanzanian consumers with safe and secure electronic payments. Through the partnership, NMB will issue secure EMV Chip and PIN prepaid and credit cards with contactless technology, underpinned by Mastercard’s payments technology. The initiative is among the first and largest roll-out of contactless payment cards in Tanzania.
Contactless payments are simple, safe, and faster than other in-person payment methods, enabling customers to get in and out of stores faster. The partnership between NMB Bank and Mastercard comes at a time when Tanzania’s financial sector is migrating from magnetic strip cards towards the more secure EMV Chip and PIN cards. EMV technology has been touted as the safest way to conduct cashless payment transactions, and has been adopted widely by major markets globally, resulting in reduced card fraud and more efficient payment systems.
Ruth Zaipuna, Acting Managing Director, NMB Bank, said: “We are pleased to work together with Mastercard to launch 1.5 million prepaid and credit cards in Tanzania. This initiative reaffirms our commitment to deepening the local cash lite economy, and underpins our goal of reaching over 300,000 customers in 2020 to drive financial inclusion and create a cashless society. Not only will these cards provide consumers with a secure means of making transactions, but they will also support the business community, whose purchases demand the use of foreign currencies. This move is a significant milestone in Tanzania, and we are confident that it will provide all types of customers with enormous value, from the mass segment to private banking customers.”
With the NMB prepaid card, customers will have an opportunity to access over 15 currencies across the world, and have six currencies active at the same time, loaded into one prepaid card.
Frank Molla, Mastercard Director, Country Business Development, East Africa, said: “Mastercard has been spearheading the transition to contactless for over 15 years, championing tap-and-go as the most simple, safe and a fast way to pay. Innovation is central to achieving our vision of cashless society in Tanzania, and we remain committed to developing market-relevant payment solutions that offer true value to consumers. This partnership with NMB supports our goal to bring 1 billion people into the digital economy by 2025, and we are pleased to work together in Tanzania towards the growth of a cash lite economy.”
ENDS
About NMB
NMB Bank Plc. (“NMB”) is a full service commercial bank incorporated in the United Republic of Tanzania. Through its 4 main business divisions: Retail, Wholesale, Agribusiness and Treasury, NMB provides a suite of financial services and products to retail customers, farmers, SMEs, Corporates, Institutions and the Government.
The bank has 225 branches, over 6000 agents ‘Wakala’ and more than 800 ATMs across the country and is represented in all districts of Tanzania. NMB has over 3 million customers and employs over 3,000 staff. It is listed at the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange and its largest shareholders are the strategic partners Rabobank with a 34.9% share and the Government of Tanzania with a 31.8% share.
Euromoney awards for excellence selected NMB as the “Best Bank in Tanzania” for 7 years in a row from 2013-2018. Rewarded an award for Best Blended Finance partner in Africa for banks working with International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group and Best Retail and Best Commercial Bank in Tanzania by the Banker East Africa Magazine.
For more information about NMB and its services, please visit our website: www.nmbbank.co.tz
For more information, you can contact:
Eunice.Chiume, Head of Corporate Communications.
Email: Eunice.Chiume@nmbtz.com
About Mastercard (NYSE:MA)
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all www.mastercard.com
For more information, you can contact:
Toju Egbebi, Communications Manager, Sub-Saharan Africa, Mastercard
Email: toju.egbebi@mastercard.com
